Keep the Box With the Label

Your pharmacy may provide you with some prescription medicines still in their original boxes. These include ointments and creams, asthma inhalers, certain eye and ear drops, and even pills. Your pharmacist may then place a label with directions for taking or using this medicine on the outside box, not on the medicine container inside.

If you throw away the box, you no longer have the directions. The label also has your doctor's name on it, and the pharmacy's phone number and prescription number, which can be used to call for a refill. To avoid mistakes, some pharmacists will also label the actual medicine container inside the box. If your medicine comes in a box, ask your pharmacist to open it and label the medicine container directly.